Parents are very glad to see school buses outside PS 53 in Bay Terrace, a week after drivers returned from an almost-month-long citywide strike.Staten Island Advance/Mark Stein

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The scene around PS 53 in Bay Terrace was serene as students began to file out of the public school after 2 p.m. Monday.

It looked and felt entirely different than just two weeks ago, when the city school bus strike was in its fourth week and seemingly never-ending.

"I really didn't think the strike would end. I thought it would go until June," said Luanne Adesman, a Bay Terrace resident who picks up her third-grade son.

The strike closed out on Friday, Feb. 15. The citywide work stoppage, waged on the grounds of job security, began a month earlier Jan. 16. While some routes continued to be served, the strike took a considerable toll on Staten Island families. Public schools reopened last Wednesday after the midwinter recess.

"Parking around here was always crazy, but when the strike was on, people were double-parking and triple-parking. They had crossing guards out here to make things go smoothly," said Ms. Adesman. "It was a little difficult for parents."

One mother, who has a student at PS 53 and Paulo Intermediate School in Huguenot, said she was in a tricky situation during the strike: She had to pick up one child in Bay Terrace and then dart further down the South Shore to get her other child.

"It makes life easier for all of us as parents, now that it's over," said Ana Kahn, of Bay Terrace. "It's easier to pick one up at the bus stop around the corner than a few miles away."

Ms. Kahn added that cold, rainy weather didn't help the situation.

"I felt like it was going on forever and that it would just never end. Some people had to partner up (to get their children because of the traffic around the schools). It was very crowded and you couldn't find parking. I'm glad it's over," she said.

Bay Terrace resident Joyce Miller, a mother of two children at PS 53, agreed.

"Normalcy is comforting," she said, adding that it has returned since the bus strike concluded. "Everything is back the way it should be. It's important."

Huguenot resident Maria Senise was especially thrilled when she chatted last week. She returned to work for Island Charter (IC Bus) for the first time in a month.

"I'm delighted to be back," she said, adding when word came down the strike was over, she was thrilled. "It's the kids. You miss the kids on your bus. You miss the routine, your work partner. I just missed the bus."

Her daily routine was turned upside-down during the strike, but there was some good that resulted from it.

"You met a lot of nice people on the picket line you never got a chance to meet," she said, crediting her boss at IC Bus for providing workers with bathroom access, coffee and lunch, even though the employees were on strike. "My boss was very generous to us. It's a little family, my company. Everything was family-oriented. Everybody brought stuff."

Mrs. Senise said workers made the best of a bad situation.

When last Wednesday arrived, she went to the bus yard on the West Shore to start up her vehicle. Normally, it's outside of her home, but because of the work stoppage, the vehicle couldn't be there.

"It was a very, very warm feeling to get back to work," she said. "The bus started right away. It was waiting for us."